Tag: FASA

Alien, Character Creation Challenge, Dune, Dungeons and Dragons, Horror, Pirates, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Westerns

2023 Character Creation Challenge After Action Report

Written by TardisCaptain February 3, 2023April 25, 2023

Note: If you made it through 31 days of the challenge, read to the bottom of the post.

I’m going to declare the 2023 Character Creation Challenge a magnificent success. Yes there were some days that I wondered if I was going to get through this. For the first time ever I had multiple games frustrate me so much that I just said “screw it, I’m done with this system”. But I was able to post for all 31 days (plus an extra day since I forgot that I was going to use a certain game).

I think my most favorite post was the one for Ork! Second Edition. Writing for another voice was fun and I had a blast. Fantasy Age made a little bit more sense than the 2022 entry for Modern Age. The reading of Mutant Future got the creative juices flowing and I hope to actually put thought into action sooner rather than later. When The Moon Hangs Low and BareBones Fantasy also caught my eye. After reading some of the information on the John Carter of Mars RPG, I went and purchased some of the novels to read on my Amazon Kindle.

Here is my 2023 list of characters:

Day 1: Alien Character: Jan Karlsson, Colonial Marine
Day 2: Star Frontiers Character: K’likki the Vrusk
Day 3: Low Fantasy Gaming Character: Golarth
Day 4: Tiny Spies Character: Daniel Drake
Day 5: Swashbuckling Adventures Character: Dirk Clarkson
Day 6: John Carter of Mars Character Jakour Detha
Day 7: Cepheus Deluxe Character: Jess Tokkin
Day 8: When The Moon Hangs Low Character: William “Kitt” Smythe
Day 9: Fantasy Craft Character: Perrich Teagrove
Day 10: The D6 System Character: Paul Reynolds Code Named- Gold Crown
Day 11: XD20 2nd Edition Character: Blix the Barbarian
Day 12: Mutant Future Character: Carath
Day 13: Ork! 2nd Edition Character: Grukk
Day 14: Serenity Character: Steven “Dart” Carter
Day 15: FASA Star Trek-Starfleet Intelligence Character: Roger Taylor
Day 16: Against the Darkmaster Character: Heathgar son of Kragin
Day 17: US Marshals Character: Leonard “Lariat” Daniels
Day 18: OSIRC Character: Myrin
Day 19: The Agency Character: Simon Steele
Day 20: Cyber Generation Character: Side Wire
Day 21: Strike! Tactical Combat and Heedless Adventure Character: Craig “T-Bone” Miller
Day 22: Barebones Fantasy Character: Traxxis
Day 23: D20 Modern Character: Gregory “Max” Mattheson
Day 24: Fantasy Age Character: Yost Rocktapper
Day 25: Traveller D20 (T20) Character: Baaken
Day 26: Star Crawl Characters: Multiple
Day 27: GURPS Character: Dieter “Ace” Tannin
Day 28: White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game Character: Wingar
Day 29: Metamorphosis Alpha Character: Spikeleaf
Day 30: True 20 Character: Markkin
Day 31: They Came From Beyond The Grave Character: Bruce Walters
Day 32: Vampire Hunter$ Character: Jock Barkley

A big thank you to those of you who encouraged me to keep going. Thank you to those who have joined my Discord server that I’m going to start using for more blog feedback. I’m very grateful to those of you who reached out to me to let me know of the blogs and other message boards that were participating in the #CharacterCreationChallenge. On social media I saw a lot of participation on Facebook, MeWe and Mastodon, but not as much on Twitter this year. I think that the platform may be having some additional issues. I’m not on Instagram so I couldn’t tell you if anything was being posted there. If I’m missing any blogs or sites that were participating, please let me know at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com and I’ll add them to the list.

Also, if you purchased anything after clicking on the link to DriveThruRPG, thank you. I’m not doing this blog to make money, but the kickback helps when making game purchases for future challenges.

I noticed a lot of participants used Dune: Adventures in the Imperium and Aliens as their “I’m excited about this game” posts. We had more participants using themes this year. One in particular that stood out was a GM who was making future bad-guys to use against his players. I was very excited that Tim Hardin, the artist who drew the map I used in a recent Basic Fantasy game, participated and posted some very good character images for his entries.

So did you complete the challenge and make 31 characters? If so, please email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com. My art school kid in college loved hearing about the characters I was making on a daily basis and the challenge in general. She created a badge for those who completed the challenge. It is a variant of the 2022 badge, but the fact that she was able to alter this between college homework assignments makes me happy. Here it is if you want to download it to display.

There will be a 2024 Character Creation Challenge. Keep an eye out around November for the warnings that it is coming up. I’m starting to use the supplements to some of my games to make characters so I suspect that I’ll be using one of the FASA Star Trek race supplements (Not certain if its going to be Klingon, Romulan or Orion). There are also a couple of other games that have similar supplements that I’m going to be using. Plus I backed the KickStarter campaigns for the Monty Python RPG and Cowboy Bebop RPG, so they will certainly be used in 2024.

So once again, if you had fun, if you learned something new, if you participated, thank you. I really appreciated the people who took my idea and ran with it and made it something of their own.

Tally ho

This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

2023 Character Creation Challenge Day 15: Star Fleet Intelligence Manual

Written by TardisCaptain January 15, 2023April 25, 2023 1 Comment

When FASA was publishing the various supplements for their Star Trek Role Playing Game line, one of the books was Star Fleet Intelligence. This allowed game masters to set up espionage campaigns for players. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Star Trek Role Playing Game by FASA, I thought that I would submit an entry into the Character Creation Challenge by creating a Star Fleet intelligence agent. An in honor of my recently departed friend who cut his Star Trek RPG teeth on the FASA game, I’m going to name him Taylor, Roger Taylor.

One of the things that FASA did very well was create the character generation short form. I used this form quite a few times when generating FASA Star Trek characters. For the Star Fleet Intelligence Manual, this form is found on page 92 of the Agent’s Orientation Sourcebook. This version is slightly different than that found in the core rulebooks as it is geared towards creating an intelligence character.

Step one is to generate the attributes. For STRength, ENDurance, INTellect, DEXterity and CHArisma you roll 3D10 and add 40. For LUCk and PSIonic Potential it’s a straight percentile roll (D100). The only racial modifiers for humans is -30 to PSI. There are also bonus points (D100/2 rounding down). Final results are STR 57, END 55, INT 68, DEX 60, CHA 53, LUC 55 and PSI 07.

There are a large number of skills generated through the next several steps. These include Step 2: pre-academy skills (what you did before you attended Star Fleet Academy). Step 3: Academy Skills (what you learned at the academy). Step 4: Intelligence Branch School. Step 5: Cadet Cruise (how many cruises did you take? What did you learn on that cruise?) Step 6: Intelligence Command School and finally post-academy experience (how many tours has your character been on?). The last step is to determine the character age.

Roger gets six skills from his days before the academy. These are generated by rolling a D10 and half are taken from the educational background and the other half come from the personal development. I selected the skills I thought Roger would have. Added his academy skills. For his branch school, I selected the Field Operations and added those skills.

For his cadet cruise, I rolled the Operations Forces Subdivision. The result of this cadet cruise was Passed assigned as Ensign (barely missed getting passed with honors). I then added his intelligence command school skills on step 6.

With the post-academy experience, Roger ended up with three tours. I rolled an 85 which resulted in Starfleet Military Operations Command which lasted for 4 years and he earned an officer efficiency report of as expected. His second tour was with the Field Operations Department/Operating Forces Sector (he was studying for Klingon) which lasted for two years and he earned an officer efficiency report of excellent. For his last tour we rolled at Technical Department for the Klingon department which lasted one year and earned an officer efficiency report of outstanding. There were some skills advancements from the post-academy experience, which I wrote down.

Roger’s final age at the end of the process is 33 and he has the rank of Lieutenant. I’m pretending that the GM is going to set us up for a Klingon mission with the Klingon Field Operations division. I looked up what his SECLAR (security clearance) would be. Along with his combat and heal rates.

Afterthoughts:

I loved the image of the starship Claymore that was seen on the covers of these books. I always wondered what the long protruding wing was below the warp engine? Is it a solar sail? Is it a special scanner? Since I’ve never been able to find out I may have to sit down and homebrew this ship for multiple systems.

I had flashbacks to all of the times I was adding to this skill and to that skill. I can understand Roger’s comment about Star Trek Adventures having streamlined all of that for the player in creation. But I love how all of the different percentages on the skills make each character unique. I forgot how small the text was in the character creation short form.

Additional Notes:

I had a few people respond in regards to the Serenity character posted yesterday. One person recalled how they had been able to break the system by having a character gaining the capability to cause massive amounts of damage in bare hand combat. Another person responded that they were more than willing to run a game if I could get a group together. I’ll have to ask around to see if anyone is interested.

Coming Up Next:

Against the Darkmaster

This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

Character Creation Challenge, Pirates, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Westerns

Prepping for the 2023 Character Creation Challenge

Written by TardisCaptain December 25, 2022December 25, 2022 2 Comments

Some of the games that I plan to use in the 2023 #CharacterCreationChallenge

As I’ve mentioned before, it is always a good idea to plan ahead for a 31-day challenge. I’ve already seen quiet a few people prepping on the RPG.net forums. They are deciding upon which system(s) they wish to use. Are they going to follow a theme or just create characters randomly? I’ve already had some people reach out to me using various methods to let me know of their participation. Please let me know, Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com if you plan to post your characters up on a blog. I’ll link to it from the Character Creation Challenge section of my website. I also have something else in the works, but I’m not quite ready to announce it yet. Still trying to get some ducks lined up in a row.

I’m once again using a spreadsheet with the date, day and game type to schedule my games. This way I won’t have two fantasy games next to each other. I can also plan a game that may take more time and energy on a day off. This is also a good idea for those dates I know are going to be busy, I can schedule the systems I’m more familiar with for these days.

As in the past, I’ll try to walk through the character creation process as I understand them in the rules-as-written (RAW). This also gives me a chance to do a review of the process. I will then scan the character sheet for all to see. And I will have all of the character sheets printed out before the challenge starts. I’ve found that this helps me get everything ready.

If you are posting on any of the social media websites, please use the hashtag #CharacterCreationChallenge so that other participants can find them. I love seeing what other RPG fans have come up with. I also know that there is one reader who wants to see if a game will pop up that he’s never heard of. I was able to accomplish this last year with my Technoir entry.

I’ve picked up some new physical books by online auctions, trade or special sales. I’ve also done a lot of purchasing from Kickstarter, DriveThruRPG, HumbleBundle and Bundle of Holding. I even donated to a Doctors Without Borders fundraiser, for which a lot of PDF copies of different games were provided. Some of these sounded very interesting.

If you are reading this after January 1st and you still want to jump into the challenge, please do. A few participants last year either did a quick catch up or just made sure they ran a full 31 days. The choice is yours. This challenge is just for fun with our gaming systems.

Remember to have fun with this. That was one of the primary goals of the challenge.

You can also use this graphic to help promote the #CharacterCreationChallenge.

31 Day Character Creation Challenge — Feel free to share this image on social media to spread the word.

Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

RPGaDAY 2022 catch up #3

Written by TardisCaptain August 20, 2022August 21, 2022 1 Comment

Here is my catch up post for #RPGaDAY2022. Links to Part One and Part Two. It has been a very busy week for me and I am eternally grateful for all of the friends and family that came over to help sheetrock a wall in my garage while I was out with my broken foot. This blog post covers days 15-21.

Day 15: Who would you like to Gamemaster for you?

I noticed a lot of people were listing celebrity GMs that they would like to try out. For myself, I’d like to have my friend Jeff Sullivan return to the GM chair. He did such a wonderful job with the Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 campaign that lasted several years with a group of friends. You could see his love of the game, skill in being a referee and how he used the game to make teaching moments for both experienced and new players. Some of his house-rules I’d like to use in my own campaigns.

Day 16: What would be your perfect game?

The game that is so enjoyable that we talk about it afterwards and can’t wait to return to the table. I know that I’ve mentioned some of my past gaming exploits in various blog posts, but I’m going to talk about another one again. We had a FASA Star Trek RPG session where the night ended on a cliffhanger. All of the players kept in contact with each other during the break talking about how we were going to pull our fat out of the fryer. And this was in the days before text messages, instant messages or even the common use of email. We did this all by various phone calls between the individual players. I’ve also noticed that I’ve done the same with computer or card games. If I’m thinking about strategy or how I can improve my gameplay, then I must be enjoying the game.

Day 17: Past, Present or Future? When is your favorite game set?

This is a hard one because I can play in all three settings. Some specific things, like horror, don’t appeal to me. Not because I don’t like that genre, but I had a hard time seeing it translated into a theater of the mind style RPG. If I really had to pick one setting, I think it would be future.

Day 18: Where is your favorite place to play?

At my house. My snacks are there. I’m comfortable. I didn’t need to travel far. Sure I had to prep the house for guests, but that’s a good thing. I also wouldn’t mind playing at a friends house as well, but I worry about games that go into overtime. I wouldn’t mind playing at a convention or a gaming store, but I worry about the noise and distractions.

Day 19: Why has your favorite game stayed with you?

As most of my readers know, it’s the FASA Star Trek RPG. This is because of several reasons. 1- It’s a licensed Star Trek game. 2- The character creation process fascinated me. 3- I thought the percentage system gave us more unique characters. 4- Starship construction rules helped fueled my imagination and creativity. 5- It inspired other Star Trek media and episodes. There are FASA Star Trek references even in Star Trek Discovery episodes and recently released IDW published comics.

Day 20: How long do your games last?

Playing a game, that’s up to the GM and other players. On games that I have run, I try to limit a gaming session to 3-4 hours. If we can’t get at least two hours of game play in, then we need to try again. We get so little time to actually sit down that we need to make sure we get value out of our time.

Day 21: Setting Sunday: Share an intriguing detail from a game setting you enjoy.

I had to think about this one. The answer that I finally decided was the exploration of the unknown. I don’t know what is behind that door, over that hill, across that ocean or on that planet. There are new things out there and I get to discover them with my friends.

Doctor Who, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

Two more FASA catalogs

Written by TardisCaptain July 5, 2022

So I found two more FASA catalogs that I didn’t own on Ebay. They were decent prices, so I snagged them and when the last one arrived today, I sat down and scanned it. I had purchased it sometime last month but it was being mailed from Australia. I had posted some of the other scanned catalogs in past blog entries, but recently I had combined all of this information in one central location in my FASA Star Trek RPG section.

FASA Catalog Fall 1986 Download

This is the issue that came from an Australian ebay seller and it was printed length wise. To my knowledge, it is the same catalog that could be found in the United States. The first couple of pages detailed the Battletech supplements that FASA had released at the time. Following that was two pages of Doctor Who RPG books and one page of Doctor Who miniatures. The last half of the catalog is dedicated to the Star Trek RPG. Some of the interesting entries includes the description, ISBN and Stock Number for the mysterious Star Trek Ground Forces Manual. If anyone has a beta-copy of this book, I’d love to obtain it or get a PDF scan. I’ve always wondered what was in this book. I would try to preserve it here in my FASA historical information that I’ve placed on this website. We also see the details and the cover to the Star Fleet Marines tactical boardgame of ground combat. I wonder if this would have been similar to the Starship tactical combat game that FASA had a lot of success with? Another mysterious cover was Operation: Armageddon. I don’t know if this was a supplement for the Starship tactical simulator or an RPG sourcebook. This was another book that never hit the shelves and was (allegedly) one of the books that someone at Paramount (I suspect Gene’s assistant) had issues with. Struggle for the Throne was another side-game that would have dealt with political intrigue within the Klingon Empire. The last page was an advertisement for the Top Gun boardgame.

FASA Catalog 1988-89 Download

What a difference a couple of years makes. This booklet sized catalog primarily focused on two of FASA’s biggest properties at the time. Renegade Legion and the Battletech universe. The last third of the catalog details the Star Trek material that FASA had on hand at the time. While the Next Generation Officer’s Manual was listed, nothing else stood out. We had the standard entries, but no speculation entries of what might have been. This was getting close to the run for the FASA license and not a lot was listed.

I will be adding these two catalogs to the main catalog article very soon. As I come across additional catalogs, I’ll scan them and list them here.

Role Playing Games, Star Trek

Character sheets from past games: FASA Star Trek

Written by TardisCaptain May 25, 2022May 25, 2022

I haven’t had a chance to do a lot of game posts because of how busy May has been so far. It’s been bugging me that I haven’t had a chance to inspire more role-playing content. To make up for it, I pulled up another character sheet from the older book of characters that I had found. In my previous character sheet entries I posted characters from Dungeons and Dragons, the FASA Doctor Who RPG, Cyberpunk, Vampire: The Masquerade and WEG Star Wars. Today’s entry is the Star Trek RPG by FASA.

The same group that I played the Star Wars RPG with also loved playing the Star Trek Roleplaying Game by FASA. I created a Helmsman for the USS Emprador. I don’t recall what inspired the starship name or what class it was. What I do recall is that our characters got stuck in the mirror universe (this was the early 90’s before there was the Deep Space 9 episodes that re-introduced the mirror universe). It was interesting because all of our characters retained their ranks in the MU except for one individual who had a very high rank in the regular universe. It was interesting seeing how he reacted to the change. Unfortunately this was also the game where the GM had painted himself into the corner and had to end it with the “It was all a simulation” ending. Let’s just say that the GM quickly found out how much we did not like that idea (being chased down the street probably gave him his first hint).

The name of the character came from a friend I had while growing up. We had been out of contact for several years when I rolled up his stats so I never had a chance to tell him about it.

On a side note, I did find another character while emptying out another cardboard box. It was from a game in the early 2000’s. I’ve added the sheets to the book and will probably include it in a future blog post.

My Creations, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Final

Written by TardisCaptain February 20, 2022February 21, 2022 1 Comment

And we have reached the last of the scans from my 1990’s Starship Homebrew book. I had found this book earlier while unpacking various boxes after a move. It was a book that I had assembled in a three-ringed binder contained copies of ships that could be used in the Star Trek Starship Tactical Combat Simulator by FASA. These were ships from the official Starship Recognition Manuals, Rulebooks, Sourcebooks, Adventure Modules and Magazine Articles. I discovered that I wanted even more starships for the book and I found them in various official and fan-made tech manuals and blueprints. Using the Starship Construction Manual and the stats from the source material I was able to convert several starships for use with the FASA game. These scans look rough, because they are the original dot matrix printouts with, literally, cut and pasted images combined on a photocopier. But I am sharing them here for all to enjoy.

Additional: Here is a photo of the original book that I was talking about.

Past Entries:

Homebrewed Stats for Starships

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part II

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part III

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part IV

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part V

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part VI

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part VII

For the last batch of vessels, we have one Gorn ship, a couple of Tholian ships and some merchant vessels. Now onto the batch.

CK-5-Class-XV-Dreadnaught Download

The name of this vessel in the fan-made Gorn Guidebook is the “Gorn Space Control Dreadnaught”. I don’t know why I had changed the name to the CK-5. Probably because I was trying to mimic the naming convention seen in the Klingon Ship Recognition Manual and the Romulan Ship Recognition Manual.

Spinner-Class-III-Light-Patrol-Cruiser Download

The image came from The Worlds of the Federation resource book. The stats were guestimated by me at the time of creation. The 2nd edition of the Starship Construction Manual doesn’t provide any stats for Tholian equipment. I didn’t know that the 1st edition of the book had Tholian equipment until I got a hold of it several years later.

H-1-Gravta-Class-V-Destroyer Download

A friend of mine had several fan-made technical manuals that he let me borrow in the 90’s. This Tholian ship came from one of them. I don’t recall the title of the book. Like the Spinner, I guestimated the stats for this vessel based off of the information in the publication. The name of the class came from the book.

1447-Starliner-Class-XII-Liner Download

Stats for a passenger liner? Yes, I made these based off of the information on this vessel from the fan-made Starfleet Dyamics book. A liner could be caught in a pirate situation for both the starship tactical combat simulator or on the roleplaying side.

Cabot-Class-IV-Trawler Download

There were a ton of ships in the 1979 publication, “Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology“. Some of the illustrations by Rick Sternbach were even used as on-screen graphics in Next Generation episodes. There were a few different ships that I wanted to homebrew stats for. This was the first, and only one, that I did in the 90’s. I had planned to write up others, which may happen sooner or later.

So now that my past works have been uploaded for everyone to see, I’ll start working on new homebrewing ships, races, equipment, etc. Not just for FASA but for other gaming systems as well. I’ve been playing a Far Trek game online with some fellow Trekkies and I’m still enjoying Star Trek Adventures by Modiphius.

Collecting, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

More FASA catalogs

Written by TardisCaptain December 2, 2021March 29, 2022

I posted a bunch of scanned catalogs from FASA in a previous blog entry. There was also a second blog entry where readers had sent me a couple of scans that were missing. Well I’ve come across a couple more catalogs for my collection. Technically both of these catalogs have been posted before on this blog, but now that I have physical copies, I decided to scan them in myself. As I continue to empty out boxes in storage, I’ll keep an eye out for additional catalogs that I haven’t scanned in yet and post them here.

FASA-2-1983-Catalog Download

In the first blog post, I only had photos of this catalog provided by a friend. In the second blog post, this catalog was posted but was in two parts. I had recently picked up a 1st edition Klingons boxed set by FASA off of Ebay. This catalog was one of the books contained within the boxed set.

FASA-Spring-1986-Catalog-Full Download

I found this catalog while going through some of the boxes in my garage. When a reader sent me a PDF of this catalog for a previous blog entry, I knew it looked familiar. And my suspicions were confirmed when it had been uncovered. Since that catalog only contained the Star Trek items, I decided to scan the entire book into a PDF format. This will allow anyone wishing to conduct research on early FASA products to see the book in it’s entirety. One thing I did notice while going through the PDF. The description for the module “Decision at Midnight” talked about how the commanding officer of the USS Arkadelphia was Captain Barbara Vellacora and how she was the youngest woman to ever be promoted to the center chair. When the module was published, the name had been changed to Ian Vellacora and the sex changed to male.

The quest to get more of my collection out of generic (and falling apart) cardboard boxes continues. There are several items that I’ve got listed down in my records, but I am unable to locate now. I’m really hoping that I haven’t lost them. Seeing some of the prices for things that I already own on Ebay has only made me more determined to find them. I really can’t afford to replace these games.

My Creations, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part VII

Written by TardisCaptain November 4, 2021March 29, 2022

Yes this is part VII of the series. Part VI was the one ship entry into the #RPGaDAY2021 challenge in August.

Past Entries:

Homebrewed Stats for Starships

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part II

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part III

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part IV

Homebrewed Stats for Starships Part V

For those of you reading about this series for the first time, I had a blog post where I talked about finding an old three-ringed binder full of starships for the FASA Starship Tactical Combat Simulator. I had photocopied all of the official starships for the game that I could find from various manuals, sourcebooks, modules, magazine articles, fanzines and more. When I had collected all that I could find, I used the Starship Construction Manual from FASA to convert Starships found in various professional, semi-professional and fan made tech manuals/blueprints.

So I’ve been able to scan in a few more starships of my own conversion (plus an extra). We’ve made it past the Starfleet starships to a group of Klingon and Romulan ships. Note: There is one Klingon ship in the first entry.

D-34-Taqr-Class-XIII-Cruiser Download

The D-34 Taq’r image and information came from a fanzine for a Klingon fan club if I recall correctly. I remember being excited because there were plenty of Starfleet ships to convert, but very few non-Starfleet vessels.

V-3-Sparrowhawk-Class-XII-Cruiser Download

A ship I found from a fan made Star Trek tech manual that was owned by a fellow starship enthusiast. I don’t recall the name of the manual. I’m not certain if this is their attempt at drawing up the Star Fleet Battles Sparrowhawk. I believe that I gave it the V-3 designation, but I could be wrong on that.

V-28-Winged-Slayer-Class-XI-Cruiser Download

So the images came from FASA, but it was for a different ship. In the early publications for Romulans, this was listed as the V-30 Winged Defender. It had the front, top and side views as well as the image seen in the header for this blog entry. Later FASA changed the image to the very birdlike (and very popular) design now marked for the V-30. I thought the original design was too good to go to waste, so I created an original ship using the construction manual.

V-25-Winged-Devastator-Class-XI-Cruiser Download

So here is the bonus ship for this blog entry. I did not create this, but I wanted to share it so others could appreciate the work that went into it. It was created by someone named Burke and published in a Utah gaming fanzine in 1987 or 1988. This page came directly out of the fanzine and was given to me by a friend. On the back are advertisements for gaming stores in Utah that are no longer in existence and an “upcoming releases” announcement. I’d love to find the fanzines that came out during that time. I know to brothers named Burke who are gamers and would have been around during this time frame, however both stated that it wasn’t their creation. If anyone recognizes it, please contact me via Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com to let me know.

Role Playing Games, Star Trek

#RPGaDay2021 Day 27: Group

Written by TardisCaptain August 27, 2021April 24, 2022

Day 27: Group

Getting together with a group of friends is the biggest reason I play role playing games. These games are a social activity. Those who show up early can chat about how things are going before the game starts. A good game usually results in members of the group talking with each other between sessions.

I recall one campaign with the FASA Star Trek Role Playing Game where the session had ended on a cliffhanger. We were trapped on a starship with several enemy torpedoes heading directly towards us. This was in the days before texting and emails. So phone call by phone call the different players called each other with different ideas of what we could do. Which idea was the best? Which idea would actually work? There was a problem and we were going to solve it.

When it came time for the next session, the GM picked up from where we left off. As the torpedoes hit, the power suddenly went out on the ship. A voice called out “OK, open it up” and the simulator wall holding the viewscreen slid open a la Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. An instructor walked through checking off a box on a clipboard stating “Well you messed that one up, didn’t you?” We don’t know if the GM planned to make this a simulation or it was his idea to get himself out of a painted corner. I just remember that one player screamed. The GM quickly gulped and ran out the door. When he dodged the player chasing him and ran back in to the house, he had discovered that we had a belt converted into a hangman’s noose. While we were upset about our ideas being thrown out the window, we were not really going to hang him… or were we?

I’ve made many different friends in different gaming groups. Some of them I haven’t talked to in years. Others I am still in contact with today. One lives so close I could hit his house with a well thrown rock. It is still my opinion that gaming in person with the group was much better than gaming over an online platform. Yes, the online options have allowed games to continue while we work our way through recent challenges. But I want to see the body language expressing secret messages via glances, I want to hear the groans as I let loose a joke (If I could make the DM laugh during a session he’d give me extra experience points), I want to hear about how my friends are doing.

Having re-read a lot of my gaming books or checking out new systems I want to get a group of friends together just to try a system. While we may not make a campaign out of the game, we would at least try out the system and see if it worked. I just wish that we could actually get together. Not just health wise, but trying to arrange scheduled (the same old story). But we would to it together as a group.

Final Thoughts:

I had a hard time with this set of suggestions. “Fraction”? It was my understand that there would be no math. “Kindle”? I guess I could have talked about reading books on a kindle. “Practice” You want me to blog about practice?